Page 86 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Twenty-One

Riva

I know before they even knock that Andreas and Dominic have come up to my bedroom door together. Their arrival sends two tiny pulses of awareness through the marks along my clavicle.

A strange mix of joy and apprehension tangles inside me as I reach for the door handle. I’m about to see one guy who makes my spirits lift and one who sets off painful pangs of memory.

And I’m tied to them both. Forever, probably.

I ease the door open and peer outside. A faint vibration runs through the floor under my feet—the yacht is cruising again after stopping at a harbor for a couple of hours this morning.

Both of the guys look at me with matching expressions of hopeful anticipation. Andreas is holding a large bundle wrapped in white tissue paper.

Dominic beams at me. “We’ve set something up for you. Really, Drey did, but we’re all helping. We thought we might as well enjoy everything we’ve got on the ship while we’re here.”

“And we haven’t really taken a moment to celebrate our freedom properly,” Andreas adds, more hesitantly.

“It’s because of you we had the chance to escape the facility when we did.

I don’t know that we’d ever have made it all the way without your help.

We definitely wouldn’t have made it out of Engel’s house alive. So, you’re the guest of honor.”

I open my mouth and close it again, my words startled out of me. Before I can figure out what to say, Andreas holds the bundle out to me.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like best, so I picked out a few options. I hope you’ll change into one of them, but it’s totally up to you. Dom will bring you to the party. You can ignore the rest of us the whole time if you’d prefer that, but I hope you’ll come.”

I accept the bundle, finding it soft and yielding like cloth. My nerves jitter with a mix of uncertainty and curiosity. “What exactly did you set up?”

A smile touches Andreas’s lips for the first time with a hint of mischief that makes my heart ache. I’ve missed his playful side—missed being able to take it at face value.

“You’ll see,” he says mysteriously, and slips away down the hall.

Dominic holds my gaze, reaching out to give my forearm a gentle squeeze. “I think you should come. And I wouldn’t say that unless I was sure.”

My mouth twists. “I don’t think a party is going to make up for everything.”

“I know. That’s not how Andreas sees it.

” Dom pauses. “He did speak up for you before that night, you know. In the train, while you were napping. He tried to convince Jacob and the rest of us that you were on our side and we should stop treating you like an enemy. None of us totally listened. That’s on us.

On me. I could have agreed with him and argued for you too, and maybe?—”

So much anguish has crept into his voice that I can’t bear to let him keep going. I step closer, leaning into him, and his arm rises to encircle me automatically.

“ You didn’t lie to me or manipulate me,” I murmur against his chest. “I’m not happy about how things were back then, but you never pretended to feel anything you didn’t. It’s different.”

Dominic swallows audibly and brushes a kiss to the top of my head. “I know. I’m just saying, when you and he—when you were with him that night—I don’t think he was lying at all by that point either.”

I’m sure Dom wants to believe that. Andreas is his friend—the four of them had only each other for the years after Griffin died and I was gone.

But the sharp words that greeted me when I followed him after we slept together ring through my memory, still painfully vivid. The whole reason I started getting cozy with her was so she’d open up…

He was saying that even after. Talking about the deal he had with Jacob.

It didn’t sound like it was totally over.

“Just come,” Dominic says gently. “I think it’ll make things a little more right. It isn’t about forgiving him—he’s not going to make any demands, I promise.”

I let out a soft huff and straighten up. “All right. But only because you asked me to.”

Dom’s smile soothes my uneasiness. “Thank you. Now I’ve got to go get changed too.”

As he vanishes into his own room, I carry the bundle over to the bed, more puzzled than ever. I tear open the tissue paper and paw apart the three clumps of folded fabric inside.

They’re dresses. Fancy evening gowns, leagues beyond anything I’ve ever worn before.

I hold them up one by one, staring at them. Then I drape them against myself as I consider my reflection in the wardrobe’s full-length mirror.

Sleek black silk, so glossy I can almost see my reflection in it , tumbles down my frame from spaghetti straps.

Dark green lace flows into a princess skirt like an explosion of forest leaves.

A mesh neckline meets a pale blue bodice with a rippling waterfall of chiffon beneath.

They’re all beautiful. They’re all completely separate from anything I ever imagined my life could contain.

I linger over them, running my fingertips over the smooth fabric. I still don’t know what Andreas is up to, but I told Dominic I’d give it a shot.

And I can’t deny that excitement shivers through me at the thought of putting on one of those gowns. Seeing myself transformed into the kind of person who would belong in a life like that, if only in appearance.

Finally, I settle on the pale blue dress. It’s the lightest and the most flexible to move in.

And when I tug at the folds, I discover pockets hidden in the chiffon skirt. I know where my knives are going.

Just because I’m getting dressed up doesn’t mean I’m throwing caution to the wind. We’ve been attacked when we least expected it before.

Anyway, maybe I’m going to end up wanting to stab Andreas. Might as well be prepared.

I shimmy into the dress, which falls all the way to my ankles. To my relief, the solid part of the bodice covers my cleavage, only my shoulders and collarbone revealed through the mesh.

My two shadow marks show through the transparent fabric, one on either side.

The silver chain of my cat-and-yarn pendant dangles between them. The necklace doesn’t exactly fit the elegance of the dress, but I can’t imagine taking it off any more than I could erase those marks.

I’m just turning toward the door when Pearl materializes out of thin air right in front of it. A yelp of surprise bursts from my lips.

Pearl cringes with embarrassment. “Sorry, sorry, I forgot, I should have started outside and knocked. I can try again and?—”

“No,” I interrupt. “It’s okay. You’re here now. What’s going on?”

“I’m helping!” She flashes a smile and holds out a pair of gray ballet-style dress shoes. “You picked a good dress. It makes your eyes look more gold.”

Considering she goes around wearing cocktail dresses as casual wear, her approval feels reassuring. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I can do something fancy with your hair too. If you want.”

My gaze veers back to the mirror. My usual braid, slightly rumpled at the moment, doesn’t really fit the elegant clothes.

“Are you a hairdresser now too?” I ask with a little wryness.

Pearl laughs. “I’m good at beauty stuff. Seems to be part of the succubus skillset. I can make it pretty but not too fussy. You’d like that, right?”

I exhale slowly. “Yeah, that sounds about my speed.”

Pearl really must have some kind of cosmetician magic, because in the space of a few minutes, she’s unwound my hair and fixed it into a swooping coil across my head with a few waves drifting down on one side.

Not how I’ve ever pictured it, but looking at my reflection, I could almost believe I am someone else.

Pearl rubs her hands together in excitement. “I’ll go tell the guys you’re ready.”

She vanishes again without bothering with the door.

I wiggle my toes into the shoes, which have enough give to fit my feet comfortably. No heels, which is probably for the best.

The next arrival does knock. I square my shoulders and answer the door.

Dominic is waiting on the other side again, but he couldn’t look more different either. He’s wearing a fancy suit with a collared shirt underneath, a bulge on the back showing where it covers his tentacles. His auburn hair is smoothed back in the neatest of ponytails, and his eyes are gleaming.

He looks absolutely dashing. I think I might be drooling.

It takes me a moment to shake myself out of the initial daze and realize he’s awestruck too. A hint of a flush colors his light brown skin.

“You’re even more gorgeous than usual,” he says.

There’s so much admiration in his voice, my nerves quiver with it.

He holds out his arm, and I take his elbow, pretending to be the people we look like now. As he leads me down the hall, I glance at the other bedroom doors, but they’re all closed.

Dominic rests his hand over mine. “Everyone else is already there.”

I open my mouth to ask where, but right then the first strains of music reach my ears. Not the thumping of club music that surrounded us in Miami, but lilting notes that suggest a more elegant sort of dance to fit our new getup.

Dominic directs me through the doorway of what Rollick called the party room. Which I guess makes sense, because Andreas called this a party.

But it’s nothing like I’d have expected.

The room has transformed. Jewel-like lights twinkle across the ceiling. Swaths of gauze in reds, purples, and pinks cover the walls.

In one corner, a mahogany table holds several champagne glasses and a selection of bottles. Another farther into the room offers trays of delicate hors d’oeuvres.

And in the middle of it all, under the shifting light that reflects off the central mirror ball, my other three guys are waiting.

Zian stands awkwardly in his suit like he isn’t quite sure how to wear it, but holy hell, does his brawny form fill it out well. Jacob looks coolly handsome as ever in his own.

And then there’s Andreas. Dressed to the nines and with his normally loose coils slicked close to his head, he’s outright devastating.

All three of them tense up at my first steps into the room.

Zian’s eyes widen.